basic right for all Kenyan children as articulated in the Children’s Act of 2001. According to the [7], the government would continue to pay teachers wage bill, support staff, pay for electricity, water and conservancy.
The government would specifically provide to all public primary schools the required basic learningteaching materials such as text books, exercise books, pieces of chalk and dusters.
The Ministry of Education through the government of Kenya has also made tremendous efforts to raise funds from donors such as World Bank, UNICEF, European Union, USAID and Non-Governmental Organizations
NGOs like Plan International and CARE Kenya to finance FPE [8]. In Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2004 on education and Training [9], the Government of Kenya demonstrates its commitment to the development of
education and training through sustained allocation of resources. Financing education, in general, and especially in the context of the six goals of EFA has emerged as a key area, which needs urgent attention. At the sub-
regional meeting in Kathmandu in April 2001, the South Asia Forum, all MinistersSecretaries expressed an urgent need to have a comprehensive grasp of “financing”, ensuring that it reflects strategic policy shifts vis-à-
vis education, both for advocacy within countries and better use of resources for EFA [10]. The government of Kenya in addition to national budgetary allocation encouraged financing of primary
education through devolved funds such as CDF. According to [11]; the Constituency Development Fund CDF is an additional means of financing sourced from domestic revenue for community-driven development
including education that is managed at the constituency level by Members of Parliament MPs as such it supplements, or operates parallel to existing funding mechanisms for local government [12].
There has been a steady increase in budgetary allocations towards the CDF fund by the government since its inception in 20032004 financial year
.
1.1. Statement of the Problem
Files According to [13]; as the results for the pioneers of the FPE were released, questions emerged on whether FPE was a ‘curse’ to public schools. Since 2003, the KCPE mean score in public schools has stagnated at about
240 points compared to 300 points for private schools. Some teachers interviewed by the East African Standard argued non-completion of the syllabus and congestion of pupils in classes hinders effective learning in public
schools [13]. Education expert Peter Odhengo concedes that congested and overstretched classrooms have created unhealthy and uncomfortable conditions in most public schools. The PS said that while teachers in
public schools handle big classes, their counterparts in private schools usually teach not more than 40 pupils in a
class [13].
During the Mwala District Education Day, the District Education Officer observed that public schools that used to be trailblazers now perform below expectation. Some of the former top performing public schools have nose-
dived in KCPE results since. The head teacher of one of such schools in her speech said parents used to be fully involved in daily running of the school before the introduction of FPE. She said, In 1980s and 90s, public
schools used to perform well as parents were buying books and library facilities. Since the introduction of FPE, most of the parents have relaxed. They say Government has provided everything for their children, she
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explained. This comes against the much held belief that public primary schools are expected to have overcome these constrains through public funding by the government through FPE funds, the CDF as well as the Local
Authority Transfer Fund LATF putting public primary schools at par with private primary schools. This raises questions on the efficient utilization of these funds especially in the identification of areas of funding. The
researcher therefore found it necessary to carry out this study with an aim of establishing the efficiency of the Constituency Development Fund CDF in enhancing KCPE performance in public primary schools in Mwala
Constituency.
1.2 Objectives of the Study The study sought to achieve the following objectives:
